George Washington and Jewish Unity

...Jackson, one of the Representatives from Georgia...

...As the delay which has naturally intervened between my election and your address has afforded me an opportunity for appreciating the merits of the Federal Government and for communicating your sentiments of its administration, I have rather to express my satisfaction rather than regret at a circumstance which demonstrates (upon experiment) your attachment to the former as well as approbation of the latter...

...G. Washington...

...and when, full of years, thou shalt be gathered unto thy people, thy righteousness shall go before thee, and we shall remember, amidst our regret, 'that the Lord hath set apart the godly for himself.' whilst thy name and thy virtues will remain an indelible memorial on our minds...

...To the Hebrew Congregations in the Cities of Philadelphia, New York, Charleston and Richmond...

...In war He directed the sword, and in peace He has ruled in our councils...

...Your unexampled liberality and extensive philanthropy have dispelled that cloud of bigotry and superstition which has long as a vail shaded religion — un-rivetted the fetters of enthusiasm — enfranchised us with all the privileges and immunities of free citizens, and initiated us into the grand mass of legislative mechanism...

...My agency in both has been guided by the best intentions and a sense of duty I owe to my country...

...Levi Shf.ftal, President In behalf of the Hebrew Congregations...

...In each answer he stressed the "enlarged and liberal policy" of the new nation which extended to RECOLLECTIONS presents documents and vignettes out of the American Jewish past...

...every constituent group the right and the opportunity to develop its own unique culture and tradition...

...May the Great Author of the world grant you all happiness — an uninterrupted series of health — addition of years to the number of your days, and a continuance of guardianship to that freedom which under auspices of heaven your magnanimity and wisdom have given these States...

...We omit the Newport correspondence because it is the best-known...

...To the eternal God, who is thy refuge, we commit in our prayers the care of thy precious life...

...New York, Richmond and Charleston to the President of the United States...

...that, indeed, opened the way to the reign of freedom...

...We have hitherto been prevented by various circumstances peculiar to our situation from adding our congratulations to those which the rest of America have offered on your elevation to the chair of the Federal Government...

...Whatever dimensions of communal life may have been lacking, one characteristic was present: disunity...

...Our eccentric situation, added to a diffidence founded on the most profound respect, has thus long prevented our address, yet the delay has realized anticipation, given us an opportunity of presenting our grateful acknowledgements for the benediction of heaven through the magnanimity of federal influence and the equity of your administration...

...I rejoice that a spirit of liberality and philanthropy is much more prevalent than it formerly was among the enlightened nations of the earth, and that your brethren will benefit thereby in proportion as it shall become still more extensive...

...And as my exertions have hitherto been amply rewarded by the approbation of my fellow-citizens, I shall endeavor to deserve a continuance of it by my future conduct...

...As a reminder and an incentive, we reproduce two of the addresses of the congregations to President Washington and his replies...

...The wonders which the Lord of Hosts had worked in the days of our forefathers have been taught us to observe the greatness of His wisdom and His might throughout the events of the late glorious revolution...

...Answer...

...No journal had been published...

...no school functioned on a sustained basis...

...At that time the Jewish population of the country numbered between 2,000 and 2,500 (of a total population of 3,000,000) and was concentrated in a handful of cities along the Eastern seaboard...

...The affectionate expressions of your address again excite my gratitude and receive my warmest acknowledgment...

...While weakness inhibited (for a time) the emergence of more than one synagogue in any given community, the combination of Jewish individualism and American laissez-faire made it impossible for the six congregations to collaborate in even the simplest of efforts...

...Congregations existed in six cities: Newport, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston and Savannah...

...But not to your sword alone is present happiness to be ascribed...

...and in this will the Hebrew congregations aforesaid yield to no class of their fellow-citizens...

...and while we humble ourselves at His footstool in thanksgiving and praise for the blessing of His deliverance, we acknowledge you, the leader of American armies, as His chosen and beloved servant...

...Its editor is Leon Jick...

...happily the people of the United States have in many instances exhibited examples worthy of imitation, the salutary influence of which will doubtless extend much farther if gratefully enjoying those blessings of peace which (under the favor of heaven) have been attained by fortitude in war, they shall conduct themselves with reverence to the Deity and charity toward their fellow-creatures...

...With Washington, there was inaugurated a pattern of divi-siveness and provincialism, which (for good and ill) characterizes American Jewish life to this day...

...It remains the task of each group to take advantage of this opportunity to mobilize its resources, to secure its creative continuity and thereby to contribute to the vitality of a pluralistic nation...

...Sir: — It is reserved for you to unite in affection for your character and person every political and religious denomination of men...

...Deign, then, illustrious sir, to accept this our homage...

...From the miniscule Jewish "community," Washington received not one, but three, letters: one from the congregation in Newport, one from the congregation in Savannah, and one from the other four congregations...

...Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University...

...Answer...

...The attempt to secure the participation of all six in a "joint address" was unsuccessful...

...Washington answered all three letters with grace and courtesy...

...The Address from the Hebrew Congregation of the City of Savannah, Georgia, which was presented to Washington, the first President of the United States, by Mr...

...It is questionable whether the term "Jewish community" can be applied to American Jewry at this stage...

...The affection of such a people is a treasure beyond the reach of calculation, and the repeated proofs which my fellow-citizens have given of their attachment to me and approbation of my doings form the purest source of my temporal felicity...

...but never was perfectly secure until your hand gave birth to the Federal Constitution and you renounced the joys of retirement to seal by your administration in peace what you had achieved in war...

...By example you have taught us to endure the ravages of war with manly fortitude, and to enjoy the blessings of peace with reverence to the Deity and benignity and love to our fellow-creatures...

...G. Washington...

...The group was too small in numbers and too meager in intellectual resources to undertake any significant institutional or educational endeavor...

...To the Hebrew Congregations of the City of Savannah, Georgia...

...The power and goodness of the Almighty, so strongly manifested in the events of our late glorious revolution, and His kind interposition in our behalf, have been no less visible in the establishment of our present equal government...

...Yet however exalted the station you now fill, it is still not equal to the merit of your heroic services through an arduous and dangerous conflict, which has embosomed you in the hearts of her citizens...

...Sir: — We have long been anxious of congratulating you on your appointment, by unanimous approbation, to the presidential dignity of this country, and of testifying our unbounded confidence in your integrity and unblemished virtue...

...Gentlemen: — I thank you with great sincerity for your congratulations on my appointment to the office which I have the honor to hold by the unanimous choice of my fellow-citizens, and especially the expressions you are pleased to use in testifying the confidence that is reposed in me by your congregations...

...The Address of the Hebrew Congregations in the Cities of Philadelphia...

...In response to Washington's inauguration, various religious denominations addressed letters of congratulation to the new president on behalf of their constituents...

...Gentlemen: — The liberality of sentiment toward each other, which marks every political and religious denomination of men in this country, stands unparalleled in the history of nations...

...May the same temporal and eternal blessings which you implore for me, rest upon your congregations...

...Not a single rabbi or Jewish scholar had settled in North America...

...May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of heaven and make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah...

...Manuel Josephson, For and in behalf and under the authority of the several congregations aforesaid...